Safety Signs and Road Signs Information

Be Careful What You Wish For

We recently discussed how Leonia, New Jersey, frustrated with the amount of through traffic they receive, decided to post Do Not Enter signs that limit who’s allowed to use the streets during rush hours. The town managed to get navigation apps like Waze to show that their roads have limited access during restricted hours.

Based on their initial goal, the modified Do Not Enter signs worked perfectly. Fewer cars use the suburb as a short cut to the George Washington Bridge – freeing up the roads for locals. Overall, it appeared to be a success to town leadership. That was until local businesses began losing customers. Less out of town traffic means there are fewer customers for local businesses. Between the signs and violators being fined $200, it becomes fairly obvious why customers are avoiding Leonia altogether. The risk is too steep for many and they’re taking their business elsewhere because of it.

With business owners staging protests, the town is forced to consider softening the language on the signs in light of this unforeseen problem. It’s clear that the current signs and policy are scaring off customers but officials have no plans to repeal the ban since it’s technically accomplishing its objective. It’s a tricky situation since they have to satisfy taxpayers on both sides of the argument. We’ll be sure to keep an eye on how things play out.